


Skywheel at Midnight

by GiantTribble



Category: Cinderella (1950), Cinderella (1997), Cinderella (Fairy Tale), Cinderella - All Media Types, Mindy Mirage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-01-02 20:44:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1061429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiantTribble/pseuds/GiantTribble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 3 of Captain von Heisenberg's Flighttime Stories</p><p>Check out "Skywheel", the piano ballad I created to promote this story, at Youtube.<br/>http://youtu.be/CbO4UeNI4BM</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skywheel at Midnight

        Skywheel whirled, a glittering mass of mirrors and lights spinning around a central, solid core. It was a world of its own, beyond the starry veils of the great interstellar empires. Once, it had been a research station of some ancient government, either imperial or republican; it didn't matter. That was once upon a time terrain, deep in the mists of history.

       Skywheel was a shell of its former self, like the forlorn white dwarf star that it orbited. Its capsule-world villages and star-lit valleys were filled with glittering, decadent bohemian types, going from one party to another like the fallen aristocrats they were. The capsules were connected by a shadowy network of tubes and tunnels, where the maintenance staff dwelt.

       Most of the maintenance people were androids, but there were a few fleshbodies there too. Ella, scuttling around with her digipad, fixing servers and debugging the software that powered all of Skywheel, was one of them. Ella, small and dark, dashed between two clusters of lords and ladies like a grey-clad ping pong ball amidst sequins until she found her way back to the tunnel entrance.

                 "Ella!" shrieked a high pitched voice, emerging from her digipad. "Ella!"

                 "What's up, Miss Heidi?" Ella held the pad, which now doubled as a walkie-talkie. "Sorry… I took a while at Fourth Wheel."

                 "Get the cleaning bots. I want the whole house done by 6 pm. I have very special people coming and it can't look this way."       

                 "Sure thing." Ella thought about how she could get back to the von Born resididence the fastest. After all, Heidi von Born was a manager in Facilities - but House von Born was one of the ancient Nouveau Families, and that still meant something. Even here on Skywheel.

         Heidi's conapt was in a capsule on the outer edge of the Wheel. It was a big, dusty place and Ella got to work, replenishing her cleaning bots and hand-dusting the places they missed. This was her second shift, Ella thought as she polished the glass dining table while her robots vacuumed. She'd been up at four AM, before the sunlight came on in her tunnel home's pixilated sky, and it was five in the afternoon already.

                Ella saw a note on the kidney-shaped kitchen counter. It was thick parchment, rare in space, and tied with a fine black and silver ribbon. Her curiousity got the best of her and she carefully unrolled it.

                Beloved ones,

                                You are cordially invited to Count Brandon von Mansur's home for the annual Winter Solstice Ball.          

                And the date and time – winter solstice at sunset. Finally, the swirling signature and wax seal of the Count himself. Ella instinctively brought the parchment to her face and smelled a trace of distinct, somehow masculine, fragrance, like sweet woodsmoke on the night breeze of some distant planet .

              Ella carefully rolled the parchment back up. Sunset and solstice were both totally artificial phenomena here on Skywheel, products of the pixilated false-sky that filled the domes. But they had not lost their cultural significance, which was probably a vestige of human consciousness, the history written in their bones.

              She closed her eyes and visualized the von Mansur estate - _palace_ , a candlelit vastness of gold, its ceiling glass revealing the starry outside. The aristocrats, dressed in their finest, glided across a floor of solid amber, clear as ice, their voices ringing bell-like across the vast atrium. Soft music played, and there was Count von Mansur, dressed in black velvet and the center of attention.

          And the after-party – The alarm buzzed, letting Ella know that Heidi would arrive soon. Ella looked around once, making sure each room was in order, then summoned her robot team and made for the closest tunnel opening.

           She rode one of the robots, which had transformed into a motor scooter, through the dingy, sewer-like tunnel until she reached the central hub – Ella’s office home and refuge.

“Welcome home, Ella,” said the Main Autonomous Builder  – the voice of the computer at Skywheel’s heart, the machine that Ella maintained.

“Mab, always here for me.” Ella put her bags down and sat on the creaky couch as the robots dispersed. She slumped over. “I’m so freakin’ tired that I can barely talk.”

“Unfortunately, this is the only world we live in.” Heidi’s privilege, Ella’s pain. Heidi had been born with the prefix _von_ , an ennobled member of the Nouveau Families – an ancient title whose meaning was likely lost in history. Heidi had been born with one of Skywheel’s solar mirrors as her inheritance, and drew her voting rights and profits from there.  
  
                Some time in the beginning of the world, everyone on Skywheel had those rights. And then they began to be stripped away. First as punishment for crimes, and then as punishment for criminals’ children, and their children’s children, until the original crime had been forgotten. And then they began to be stripped away from noblemen’s children.

                Stripped, through divorce, of Baronet von Born’s protection, Ella Lavey-Born’s birthmother was never able to pay off her debt. But her stepsister Heidi prospered and enjoyed the full protection of the title. But Ella didn’t want the responsibilities of nobility either. She liked her friend Mab, and working with her hands.

But did she like going over to somebody’s house after work and cleaning their stuff for no pay?

She closed her eyes and was swept away to a golden palace.

“So I’ve been hearing from Heidi,” said Mab.

Ella froze. “What’s up?” That usually wasn’t a good thing.

“She’s been planning to go to this ball. It’s a huge one. I remember you read an article about it in the news once. Some years ago. You seemed really excited.”

               “Yeah, I saw the invite in her conapt. While I was cleaning it this afternoon.”

“I’ve always wanted to go there. To have eyes and ears there, beyond the impersonal views on my camera system. How would you…”  
                Ella’s heart beat faster. “But I can’t. I’m lowborn.”

“As my agent. I will run my connectors through your technical glasses.”

Silence.

“What’s the catch?"

“You have to leave before midnight, or else I will lose contact with the space and you will be detected as an intruder. Unlicensed personnel. I cannot maintain your permissions past that point and you’ll be at the mercy of security.”

Ella’s heart continued to beat quickly. Even an hour there, in that splendor…

“I’ll do it.”

 

  * * *



              Winter solstice was a holiday for all the people in Skywheel. Even Ella was sometimes permitted to take a half day. But since she lived at work, nobody would even notice that she was out. None of the clothes she wore were her own; she barely had enough credits to feed herself. They belonged to other employees. Mab had stolen them from the central laundry and altered their status to _lost_.

              A classic black dress, thought Ella. Perfect. It was slim throughout the top, then flared out at the bottom like the tail of a mermaid. She wore thick strands of pearls with it, all colorful like a mermaid’s treasure trove, surprisingly comfortable heels, and an iridescent shoulder wrap that changed colors as she moved. The robots had styled her hair, enriching her thin, ash-black locks with a few pounds of weave that had somehow emerged from Mab’s supplies. Not a hair was out of place.

“Is that Ella?” Maples the cleaning robot rarely spoke, but when he did, the words really meant something. He whistled in a way. “Why, you look brighter than the mirrors of Skywheel itself.”

              Ella smiled, and blushed. “Thank you, my dearest Maples.” Maples turned himself from his usual vacuum-cleaner form into a motor scooter. Ella fitted the attachment over her technical glasses, then covered them with a feathered mask. She put a large, floating helmet over her head to protect her style from the wind – highborn ladies did it all the time. Nobody needed to know that she was there, but Mab and herself.

               As she left the familiar terrain of hub, spoke and tunnel, the sun set in a blaze of ruby beneath the curvature of the city’s capsule. She switched on her eyeglass attachment.

“Ella von Born. Reporting for Faerie Queen Mab herself, also called _Main Autonomous Builder_. December 21 st, 5018 Anno Terrae. We are approaching the von Mansur residence.”

              And as she slowed down, taking an exit on the _highway_ that people like Ella never used, she saw the immense golden dome in the distance. The road narrowed and the terrain became less populated. Eventually the streets were replaced with lush trees and geometric gardens – extravagant for a domed world.

              Ella parked in a side alley, secured her helmet to Maple and slipped out of the woods and into the light of _Von Mansur Palace –_ the home of Skywheel’s ruling family. First among equals. _Count von Mansur._ She gazed reverently, as if in the presence of the angels themselves.

              The ground terminated in a grand sweep of clear amber steps, seemingly glowing from the inside out, as if they were made of starstuff. Ella walked carefully, not wanting to hurt the steps, not wanting to trip in her state of awe. She walked through the door, knowing that some unseen force had scanned her attachment and identified her purpose.  

              Inside, the ceilings were high beyond any human measure. They opened to the clear ceiling of Skywheel itself, the hundred meter glass beyond which was open space, and the coldness of vacuum and stars. The ceiling was cut by huge filigree of gold and silver, with candles seemingly floating in midair, like a deconstructed, astral chandelier. Aristocrats – seeming gods, dressed in jewel tones and beautiful beyond any human measure, floated across an amber floor that appeared crystal clear and descending infinitely into the earth. Heaven and the depths of earth were both here.

             Ella walked in a circle, clockwise, around the space, reporting to Mab every few minutes. She was rewarded with sighs, and oohs, and ahs, from what other people thought to be an unfeeling machine. But Ella knew better. Mab was herself, and she was Mab, in a way. And Mab was her literal fairy godmother, like in the old tales.

The music was ethereal strings, coming from some unknown source. It drew to a cadence, then started again in a different key.

             “May I have this dance, my lady…?” Ella turned around. He was only a little taller than herself, but seemed more solid, more regal. His skin was pale like marble, a rare color in fleshbodies, and his hair was the blue beyond black, braided behind him and tied with a silver band. He smelled faintly of warm woodsmoke. His clothes were black and silver…

“I would love to. And I am Ella.”

The music swelled, and they began to dance – Ella barely kept up with the music.

“Ella… who?”

“Just Ella.”

“I’m Bran. Just Bran.” He smiled, his dark eyes slightly downcast in shyness. Ella gazed at him and smiled softly.

The balcony was bathed in starlight, surrounded by lush vegetation. Night flowers bloomed, releasing a lunar fragrance. It was as warm as the air inside, and as still – Skywheel had only one season.  

“This is my first time here, Bran. And it is beyond any of my expectations.” Ella stopped. Had she given too much information? Would they find her out, and try her for trespassing?

“My first time was also beyond any of my expectations. On any other day, this place is as cold and scary as a mausoleum. Imagine no candles, just the sun. Silence. You face just yourself.” Bran looked away.

“If you could have anything in the universe, or even just Skywheel, what would you want? This place has everything. But you seem to be… not satisfied.”

Bran smiled and turned toward Ella, his eyes wide as white dwarf stars, and as innocent as pure stars. “I would have someone to share it with. With all the noble ladies, with all the alleged opportunities, in this small and circumscribed world, I feel like I am trapped at home again, with the silence. And mirrors of myself.  
          

    What about you? What would you want? If we could switch places for just one day, I would like to know what has forged that spark that I see in you. I would want to be in that workshop of the soul, to really  _live._ All of this? I would give it all up just for that.”

Ella was silent. “I have nothing, and you have everything. I am just Ella, with no title, no proper name.”

“And I am just Brandon, with no spark, no spirit, no proper name either.” He leaned in and kissed her. Brandon’s lips felt cool and warm at the same time, on her lips. Cool like the stars, and warm like the spirit of the ball. She felt transported –

The alarm. Ella opened her eyes to flashing red lights against her technical glasses.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Ella. I want to see you again.”

Ella ran.

 * ** 

             In the darkness of predawn, Ella awoke with a headache and dragged herself to work in the office next to her bed nook. She looked for her digipad. It wasn’t there. _Damn._ Ella felt her cell phone at her hip, and was relieved to have some way of getting in touch with her bosses. She fired up the computer and looked at her list of assignments. They were mostly in-house today, thankfully.

At the cafeteria, Ella encountered someone she hadn’t expected to see.

“Miss Heidi! It is so wonderful to see you. How was your gathering? I hope I did a good job cleaning your place – not that it wasn’t clean already.”

“Leave me alone.” Heidi was in one of her moods.

“Is there anything I could help you with?” Ella was a bit scared.

Heidi pushed her aside and sat with one of her caste peers. Ella ate alone in her corner, facing a portable computer she’d borrowed from the office.

                “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”

                “Relax,” said Heidi’s peer, a sable-haired woman in a red suit. “Nobody knew what was coming. If it makes you feel any better, I thought I had him in the bag.”

                Heidi glared at her friend with mild bitterness. “Astrid, be glad that it’s neither of us, otherwise we’d be fighting over this situation. Who _was_ that person in black? How did she get in?”

              “A reporter, no doubt. Some of them function on time limits and have to get in and out quickly for their employers.”

                “No doubt indeed. Why would he have anything to do with a reporter?”  
                “They say the Count’s a bit spacey. He might just have felt a bit cooped up and wanted to talk to somebody completely different.”

                “The most important day of the year, and he’s still unwed after all these years? Fiona must be rolling in her grave. Another von Mansur has to come from somewhere before it’s too late.”

                Ella ate quickly, then moved away as quickly as she could. She went back to work. Mab popped up, almost unbidden.

                “Mab, what did you think of the… event? Were you able to catch where my digipad went?” Ella was anxious without the little device. She never went out without it.

                “It was everything I hoped for. And more. And he is so…”

                “Mab, _hush!_ ” Ella looked around, making sure that nobody had heard. “Have you seen the digipad?”

                “Apparently it fell out of your bag when you made that mad dash to get out in time. I can requisition another digipad if you’d like.” Ella let out a sigh of relief. Then –

                “I hope nobody cracks the password on it. I really hope they don’t find out about this little outing. It’ll get around to _the wrong people_ and I could disappear. Forever. Not like this, but really disappear. You understand this, Mab? You really understand this?” Ella was sweating bullets. She hid in the office. Avoiding Heidi.

Somebody knocked at the door.

“Go away, I’m busy.”

“It’s just Technician Bee from sector 5A. I have a computer question for you.” Ella allowed herself to breathe out, and opened the door.

He wore a grey suit like hers, and slightly dimmed technical glasses. He held something – the digipad!

“Hello, just Ella. I think you left something at my home the other day.”

“Just Bran… how did you get in here?” He said nothing, and only kissed her.

“I like to escape sometimes. Just like you.” Ella opened the digipad and unlocked it with her password. One new message. She opened it.

“Just Ella. Will you go out with me again? This time, just us. Love, Count Brandon von Mansur, first among equals, Skywheel.”

“I would love to.” Ella tackled Bran with a surprise hug and they fell, giggling, onto the tattered office couch.  

 

 


End file.
